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Space photos of the day: Volcanic eruptions

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This NASA image, taken by a NASA MODIS satellite acquired on May 22, shows the ash plume from the Grimsvotn volcano and its shadow to the west. The Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Saturday, May 21, sending clouds of ash high into the air. The amount of ash spewing from the volcano tapered off dramatically on Tuesday, however, said Elin Jonasdottir, a forecaster at Iceland's meteorological office. NASA/AP

A cloud of volcanic ash is seen to the north of Britain in this satellite image received in London on May 24. The image was originally received from the NASA Terra satellite by the University of Dundee Satellite Receiving Station on May 23. It shows the north coast of France, and Britain, with the ash cloud seen as a brown area to the top left of the photograph.University of Dundee/Reuters

The eruption of Sarychev Peak Volcano, Kuril Islands, north-eastern Japan, is seen in June 2009, viewed from the International Space Station. The white matter on the side of the volcano is pyroplastic flow. NASA

It might look like a close-up of a lily-pad, but these are amazing shots of the Manam Volcano, just off the coast of mainland Papua New Guinea - from space. The active volcano released a faint plume of smoke in June 2009 and the The Advanced Land Imager on board NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite captured it.Jesse Allen/NASA EO-1 team/WENN/Newscom

A NASA MODIS satellite image, acquired on May 23, shows the ash plume from the Grimsvotn volcano. Asian airlines were operating flights to Europe as normal on Tuesday, but said they were closely monitoring an erupting Icelandic volcano after some European airlines earlier canceled flights to Britain. NASA/GSFC/MODIS Rapid Response/Reuters

This May 23, 2006 NASA image shows a plume of ash from the Cleveland Volcano in Alaska made shortly after Expedition 13 astronaut Jeff Williams contacted the Alaska Volcano Observatory to report the activity. He took this photograph from the International Space Station. NASA/AFP/Newscom

This handout picture captured by NASA's MODIS shows Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continuing to emit a dense plume of ash in May 2010. AFP/NASA

This NASA image obtained Aug. 27, 2010 shows the picturesque, but snow-capped volcanoes, composing the Islands of the Four Mountains in Alaska's Aleutian Island chain which look suspiciously like an alien world. The islands contain restless Mt. Cleveland, an active volcano currently being watched to see if it emits an ash cloud that could affect air travel over parts of North America.AFP/NASA/Newscom

This picture was released by the NASA acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. The image shows both the eruption plume and the heat signature of lava at the volcano's summit and at Iceland's Fimmvorduhals volcano, the site of a precursor eruption in April 2010. NASA/AFP/Newscom

This NASA satellite image acquired on Dec. 15, 2009 shows the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines. 'We saw the formation of two lava domes at the crater of Mayon during an aerial survey yesterday,' government volcanologist July Sabit told AFP on Dec. 17. 'This indicates pressure is building up from the inside and the rising magma had accumulated at the mouth to form the domes,' he said. The volcano would erupt days later until January 13, 2010AFP/HO/NASA/Newscom

The summit of South America's Llullaillaco Volcano, the highest historically active volcano in the world at an elevation of 22,110 feet above sea level, is seen in an undated NASA image taken from aboard the International Space Station. The last explosive eruption of the volcano, based on historical records, occurred in 1877. UPI/NASA/Newscom

A plume of smoke rises from a rumbling volcano on the island of Montserrat in an amazing image taken from outer space. Soufriere Hills belched clouds into the sky above the Caribbean after a series of minor earthquakes in Oct. 2009 caused several small eruptions. The volcano, active since 1995, vented ash, sending smoke billowing from its peak. NASA/WENN/Newscom

This satellite image, provided by NASA and acquired on May 22, shows a plume of dense ash from the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland towards the upper center of the frame. The plume from the volcano was bearing down on Scotland and set to disrupt flights there as early as May 23, Britain's Met Office said.NASA/AP

This high-resolution view of the plume coming out of the Eyjafjoell volcano released by the Nasa Earth Observatory on April 20, 2010 and captured by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull Volcano began erupting on March 20, 2010.AFP/NASA/Newscom

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Guatemala volcano: At least 17 villages near the Volcan del Fuego, six miles from the colonial city of Antigua, are being evacuated. The eruption of the volcano could cause a disruption in airline flights in and out of Guatemala.

A long-simmering volcano outside one of the Guatemala's most famous tourist attractions exploded into a series of powerful eruptions Thursday, hurling thick clouds of ash nearly two miles (three kilometers) high, spewing rivers of lava down its flanks and forcing the evacuation of more than 33,000 people from surrounding communities.